Chapter Two
Parker
Throbbing feet, an aching back, and a pinched nerve in her elbow were all things Parker had catalogued over the course of the morning breakfast rush.
How is my body wrecked today? was her least favorite game but one that she seemed unable to stop playing, at least for as long as she worked as a waitress.
Or a retail worker. Or again during that stint as a stocker at the grocery store.
No matter what job she held, the game stayed the same.
The pain game was also one that no younger woman should have to play, but Parker wasn’t your typical twenty-six-year-old.
Single mom of a second grader wasn’t exactly a title Parker thought she would hold at this age, but when you get pregnant at seventeen, you aren’t left with many options.
It had happened easily enough: Poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks meets rich boy who shows an interest in her.
What Parker lacked in money at the time she also apparently lacked in good sense.
The fact that Trent gave her any attention at all should have been a giant red flag, but apparently Parker had been so starved for anything resembling love that when the high school basketball star started to hang around her more often, showering her with affection, she believed he was sincere.
Of course, he wasn’t. There was a reason he always came to her house, why they never went out on a proper date, and why when she’d told him she was pregnant, he denied that the baby was his.
“How are you going to prove it?” Trent had sneered at her.
Now that he had used Parker so thoroughly, he apparently wanted nothing more to do with her or their baby.
Trent knew damn well she had no money for paternity tests or lawyers, so while she was exposed to the judgement and ridicule of their classmates and townspeople once her baby bump started to show, he simply got to move on, graduate high school, and forget all about her and the child he’d left behind.
If Parker thought that turning to her mother for help would make it all better, she was sorely mistaken.
Shanna Collins had gotten pregnant at seventeen herself, but instead of being understanding about how a young person could make a mistake and trying to help her daughter through it, she told Parker to pack her bags and get out.
Her mother had no desire to become the center of gossip in their small Michigan town once again, giving Parker just enough money for a bus ticket and allowing her to take her meager belongings with her.
The clothes didn’t fit for long, and the shared apartment she found herself in about five hours West of her birthplace was less than ideal, but at least it was a roof over her head.
Answering the ad for a roommate turned out to be one of the only strokes of luck Parker would come upon those first few years.
The woman who’d placed the ad lived with her daughter and they had a spare room.
Neither woman took issue with Parker being pregnant and even got her a job at the same retail store they both worked at.
For those first few years, she’d had steady income and two willing babysitters to watch her daughter when the day care she’d enrolled her own little girl in was closed for the night.
Once that retail store closed its doors for good, the women had to part ways and look for other jobs.
The next five years would take Parker and Kit from Michigan to Illinois, then over to Kansas and finally up to Idaho where they had managed to land for the last school year.
Parker hated that she’d had to move her daughter around so much, but it was a necessity.
They went where the jobs were and small town jobs dried up fast. Parker knew she was likely to find more work in a bigger city, but after a short stint in Chicago where she’d almost been mugged on the way home from work, she’d chosen the safety and familiarity of small town life.
The longer she stood on the unforgiving tile of the diner floor, however, the more she started to rethink that.
Groaning, Parker tilted her neck and twisted her back to try and work out the kinks.
It never really accomplished much, only staving off the worst of the stiffness that would settle in the moment she laid down to sleep at night.
At least this job took place during the “breakfast and lunch” shift only.
There were only so many people she trusted to look after her daughter when she had to work at night.
Too bad “Bring Your Child to Work Day” couldn’t be a thing all year round.
Parker would feel so much better about her situation if she could watch over her little girl during the summer months, but her boss wasn’t exactly open to the idea of having a kid taking up one of the booths all day.
It wouldn’t have worked anyway seeing as how Kit loved to be outside.
She was a bit of a tomboy, something she said the kids at school teased her about, but it had never gotten bad enough that Kit couldn’t handle it herself.
She was tough, something Parker both admired and lamented.
Growing up as transient as she had undoubtedly made Kit’s edges rougher than they needed to be.
She was prickly with most people and skeptical of any piece of good fortune that seemed to happen upon them.
The fact that her little girl was so cynical caused Parker more heartache than she ever imagined possible, but until she was able to get them a better life, she wasn’t so sure it would change anytime soon.
That didn’t stop her from trying. Anytime they had to move, Parker tried to turn it into an adventure.
She was pretty sure Kit played along for her sake, but she would take the win, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Smiling at the thought of her daughter, Parker walked over to the table filled with men in business attire. By the polished silver watches they wore and the cut of their suits, they had money to spare and despite herself knowing better, she was hoping for a big tip.
Parker nodded to the table. “Good morning, gentlemen. What can I get for you?”
The biggest one leered at her, the lights of the diner glinting off his shiny bald head. “Are you on the menu?”
The rest of the men chuckled as Parker made a concerted effort not to roll her eyes.
The rote pick-up line was one she’d heard many times before and was discounted just as easily as she did most things in regards to her appearance.
With her frizzy brown hair, brown eyes, and body that was more skin and bones than muscle and curves, she doubted that anyone was looking at her with actual interest in their eyes.
Plastering on a winning smile, she nodded to the specials board that hung behind the counter. “I’m not, but can I recommend the lumberjack breakfast? It comes with two sides of meat.”
Parker was pretty sure she heard someone else at the table mumble about giving her their meat, and she tried not to throw up in her mouth as she took their actual orders.
With another fake smile, she turned to put their order in.
A man reached out and smacked her ass, and while Parker stiffened, she simply shook it off and went about her business.
Unwanted touching was something else she experienced far too regularly, and while it would be easy to file a complaint with her boss, Parker knew it would fall on deaf ears.
As much had happened at other places she’d been, so why bother?
Parker needed the job and the money, so instead of complaining about sexual harassment or railing on and on about the injustice of it all, she tried her best to brush it aside and try to believe that despite all evidence to the contrary, not everyone in this world was an entitled asshole.
Some days made it harder to believe that than others, but Parker refused to give up on humanity, if only for her daughter’s sake.
If she kept her head down and worked hard enough, she knew that it would eventually pay off.
Forty minutes later, however, her theory was proven incorrect when she went back to the raunchy businessmen’s table and found next to no tip.
“Assholes,” she muttered, pocketing the few coins they’d deemed her service worthy of.
Wandering over to the server station, Parker grabbed a drink of water and counted out her tips for the day thus far, wincing when it was at least half as much as it usually was.
Wednesdays weren’t exactly hopping at the diner, but what she’d made would barely cover milk and cereal for the week.
Sighing at the prospect of going without breakfast for the next seven days, something that was an all too familiar experience for her but not one she had never really gotten accustomed to, Parker walked over to seat a couple who’d just wandered in when the diner owner pulled her aside.
“Can I get a minute, Parker?” When she looked up at her boss’s face, Parker immediately knew that whatever he had to tell her was going to be bad news. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed tightly and his sweaty arms were crossed over his chest. “It will only take a minute.”
“Sure.” Parker tried to smile, but it wouldn’t come. The rock in her stomach that was a mainstay due to worry and hunger sank even further, threatening to keep her rooted to the spot.
With heavy feet, she followed Mitch back to his office and went to take a seat, stopping as he shook his head at her. “Don’t bother.”
Tears fell from her eyes as she started to undo her apron.
He didn’t have to say it. Parker knew she was gone the moment she’d heard his voice.
It sounded the same every time. There was regret at having to let someone go, but also a bit of relief laced throughout at the possibility of the hard part being over with for them.
Well, the hard part would just be starting for her because now she needed to find a new job and place to stay.
“I want you to know that this has nothing to do with how hard you work. There just isn’t as much business as there used to be and well...” he shrugged helplessly.
Parker smiled sadly. “Last hired, first fired. I get it.” It was something she’d been the victim of many times before, and while she wouldn’t miss the diner, the asshole customers, or the town they’d been living in, at least it had been something to keep her and Kit from moving on for a while.
“I don’t suppose you happen to know of any other jobs in the area. ”
Mitch shook his head sadly. “I do not, but I’m sure you’ll land on your feet.”
Parker nodded. “That I will.” There was no other choice but for her to land on her feet. Thankful for her month-to-month lease and small savings she’d managed to build up, Parker passed over her apron and offered a hand to her former boss. “Thanks for the opportunity.”
Mitch’s meaty paw shook her hand and he smiled. “Anytime. You take care now.” Parker bid him to do the same and left the diner.
A hot breeze hit her in the face as she walked down the sidewalk back to the small studio she shared with her daughter, Parker already making plans to start the usual cycle that came with leaving another town.
They would sell anything that wasn’t an absolute necessity before heading west again.
Parker wasn’t sure why they always drove that way as it had certainly never brought them much luck before.
Maybe it was all the manifest destiny history that was drilled into them in school or maybe it was because she wanted to just get further from where she started.
Either way, it was the way they would go when they head out in a few days.
It had been a while since Parker and Kit had stumbled upon something good, but she figured they were due and that it would come from heading west. With a determined nod, she walked up the stairs to her apartment building, dreading the one part of the cycle that always hurt the most: telling her daughter.